Portage to the Past: Rodent bites, political views, fisherman's unexpected find make the news

Let's start off the new year with some BOBs! "Bottom of the Barrel" stories - or BOBs as I call them - are short items of interest. There is not enough information for a full column, but I feel they still should be mentioned.

First up, for those of you who may not be aware of the fact, back when most newspapers started out, they were one-man projects, their main purpose being to express the owner's ideas and opinions. Most newspapers were privately owned and operated to start, but even after they became larger and had several owners, they still tended to be very political. Not only would they take every opportunity to launch an attack on whichever platform or official was not of their party affiliation, but many even proudly claimed their political leanings right in the publication's name. We still have some of these carry-over names, such as the Red Wing Republican Eagle (Minnesota) and the Fort Madison Daily Democrat (Iowa), just to name two of them.

The reason I bring up this subject is that it delights me when I am researching and I see things like the line right under the masthead "Stevens Point Daily Journal" on Nov. 17, 1900. It read, "Devoted to the Interests of Central Wisconsin and the Vindication of Republican Principles." I think the Journal of that time would have fit in very well on today's Facebook social network where everyone feels the need to cram their political views down the throat of everyone else.

Second up is a rather creepy tale from what must have been a slow news day at the Oshkosh Daily Northwestern on July 3, 1920, when they picked up a story that ran in June from the Stevens Point Daily Journal about Mrs. Charles Scribner, who lived on Patch Street. The story says she was awakened one night with a fierce pain in her right arm, near the wrist. Upon examination of the arm, she found four lacerations where rodent teeth had penetrated the skin and flesh right to the bone. The unfortunate woman had her arm extended out over the bed at the time and a blanket lay folded beneath her hand. It was thought the rat had climbed the blanket and then jumped onto the woman's wrist. When she awoke and flung out her arm, the rat flew off and could be heard skittering away. The injuries were painful and in just a few minutes her wrist was swollen to nearly twice the normal size. She bandaged it and called the doctor to dress the wounds.

She was not the only one in the home suffering in pain though, as the day before her son, Dewey, was struck by a car while riding his bicycle on Patch Street. He sustained head and knee injuries when the car driven by Pearl Warner impacted him and sent him hurtling to the pavement. Luckily, it was only his bicycle that was unfixable. You wonder if that was the end of their streak of bad luck.

The third item comes from the Grand Rapids Daily Leader and is one sure to make all you fishermen wish for the perfect catch.

It was June 1, 1918, and Frank Klein of Stevens Point decided he wanted to do a bit of fishing. He headed a short distance below the Jackson Milling Co. dam, where he spent a lazy afternoon looking to land a lunker with his friend, Andrew Musial. Klein finally succeeded in getting a bite and after pulling in the fish, noted it was a small-sized sucker. On the way home that afternoon, Klein kept insisting that Musial should take the fish home, but Musial did not want it and told Klein to keep his own fish. After debating a bit regarding who should ultimately take the fish home to clean and eat, Musial agreed to take it. Upon arriving home, Musial cut into the sucker to discover a valuable diamond ring inside. There was no record anywhere of which man got to keep the diamond, but I am betting that Klein argued that he only gave Musial the fish, not what was inside of it.

This is just the start, readers. Get ready for an interesting new year looking back at Portage County of the past.

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Portage to the Past: Rodent bites, political views, fisherman's unexpected find make the news

Let's start off the new year with some BOBs! 'Bottom of the Barrel' stories ? or BOBs as I call them ? are short items of interest. There is not enough information for a full column, but I feel they

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